Mage theorycraft
=Introduction= Mages debate heavily how to spec; each spec benefits the mage differently and feeds into different aptitudes. Most mages will place the highest importance on one of these categories: * DPS is most important - Fire mages usually adhere to this belief * Battle control is most important - Frost mages tend to advocate this * Survivability is most important - Frost supports this goal the most * PvP is most important - This is a pretty generic concern, but Frost and Arcane seem to be the specs that provide the best performance here * Control of DPS/DPM is most important - Arcane/Fire hybrid builds tend to support this belief the most. Ultimately, it is a playstyle concern: what maging fits the player's style better, allowing the maximal performance. In a Burning Crusade raid, the mage role is generally accepted as a primary DPS one, with humanoid/beast CC, and minor decursing. However, skilled Frost mages can work as a kiter on snareable mobs, with the aid of their Water Elemental and their snares. Often the discussion on what spec is best turns on the belief of the importance of the non-quantifiables, such as survivability. * For raid DPS, the 10/48/3 deep Fire build is theoretically the highest single-target dps build. However, the elementalist and arcane/fire builds are close to the deep Fire theoretical performance. * With two piece of T5, and The Lighnting Capacitor, Deep Arcane build (61/0/0) become as competetive, if not better than the traditional deep fire build. (Rumored to be true. Please verify) * Frost mages place great stock in Ice Block for dropping aggro temporarily, and Ice Barrier for withstanding a hit or two from a mob, permitting them to live where a Fire or Arcane mage might well die. They also have the burst DPS ability granted them by the Water elemental. It is without question that a deep Frost mage has the best AoE ability with the slowing talents for Blizzard and the target-able Frost Nova a Water elemental gives. However it's dps is not as comparable to its fire, arcane counter part in raid environment. * Arcane/Fire builds are the best for high DPS combined with burst DPS. * Arcane/Frost builds are rare and are some of the lowest DPS of all mage builds. * Frost/Arcane is a pure DPM build, and is good for longevity in raid encounters. * Arcane/Frost is becoming a well-regarded build for Arena work, because of Ice Block's ability to drop all debuffs, and the Arcane talents that allow high burst DPS. = The Specs = Arcane Arcane is a DPM/DPS tree. It can achieve extremely high dps or dpm, depending on various spell rotations. AB, AB, AM is typical high dps rotation. Assumptions Arcane Missiles, Arcane Blast are the major nukes used in a deep Arcane build Results Fire Deep Fire is the spec of choice for maximum DPS, without regard to DPM, burst damage, or snaring/kiting a mob. Assumptions * The classic Deep Fire build is a 10/48/3 build similar to this one. * The rotation the mage will be using is as follows: * 5 scorches, 7 fireballs, 1 scorch, 7 fireballs, etc. * A fireblast may be interspersed every 2 fireballs for higher DPS and lower DPM. Calculations TODO; will probably copy IronTygress's calculations since they are considered one of the best on the official forums. Potentially Lhivera's as well. Results To be found. Frost A deep Frost mage has high survivability and high DPM, as well as phenomenal snaring and AoE ability. Assumptions * Build: deep Frost ** Note: There is no need to max Winter's Chill; 4 points is just as good when it matters. * The frost mage's highest DPS will come from greatly enhanced chance to critical versus frozen targets. * Tougher raid mobs are immune to freezing effects, such as Frostbite. * Frostbolt spam with optimal Cold Snap Water Elementals is the optimal DPS. * Lhivera assumes the Elemental will be active 29% of the time, which is a little less than is theoretically possible if Cold Snap is used on optimal cooldowns. * WC will be up * Spec will have these points (with 10 points left to go whereever): Results The frost mage will have slightly higher survivability in all areas than most other mage builds and have great damage-dealing ability versus trash mobs encountered singly and in groups. However the frost mage's DPS will suffer versus boss mobs who are often immune to the frost mage's ability to freeze creatures which would set them up for frequent criticals. Arc/Fire Arcane/Fire builds come in two categories: the 40/21/0 build and the 33/28/0 build. Both provide good DPS and an excellent burst control, making them a quality PvE/PvP build. 40/21 Assumptions Link to a 40/21 build 40/21 Results 33/28 Assumptions Link to a 33/28 build 33/28 Results Arc/Frost This type of build can dish out significant damage and DPS control, while retaining a good portion the survivability coveted by deep frost mages. This build's maximum raid potential only comes into full power with a deep Frost mage providing Winter's Chill for +10% crit on the target. Assumptions * Basically a 40/0/21 build with Ice Block, Cold Snap, Arcane Power, POM, and all the dps and crit rating: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ri0Vc0fzxIziZZVA0coc0o * Rotation: Frostbolts with Fire Blasts thrown in here and there (Example: 3 Frostbolt -> Fireblast, repeat. AP -> AM on clearcast). * Macro'd your POM, Arcane Power, and Frostbolt together, giving 15 seconds of significant power. This gives an average overall DPS increase of X(TODO: Find X). When a serious burst is needed nothing beats PoM + (spell damage trinket) + AP leading into a Fireball (instant cast thanks to PoM) 2 Arcane Missile volleys and a Fire Blast and if close enough, might be able to squeeze in a CoC or AE within the 15 second timers. A bonus for burst dps is that AP stacks with usable trinkets and proccing ones simultaneously. Eg, the Bloodgem and AP can be macro'd to trigger when the Shiffar's procs. Results * High 15 second burst DPS * Better than average DPS in some circumstances Frost/Arc Frost/Arc builds sacrifice frost's high survivablity and Shatter mechanics for longevity provided by low-end Arcane talents, particularly Arcane Concentration and optionally Arcane Meditation. Assumptions Trinkets are timed to be used with the Water Elemental whenever possible. High crit rate provides moderate synergy with the Lightning Capacitor. High DPM, will last through most raid bosses unassisted. Will not benefit as much as Arcane and Fire builds from a Shadow priest. 10/0/51 Improved Blizzard is used as the main AoE spell. Sample build 18/0/43 Arcane Explosion is used as the main AoE spell. Improved Cone of Cold is used as a filler talent, it can be replaced by Permafrost. Sample build Results Elementalist (a.k.a. Frostfire) Assumptions The FrostFire Build that I have designed (a steady 0/31/30 talent build), is not designed for effective personal DPS output. Rather, the functionality of this build lies in its ability to increase DPM (Damage per mana point) for other mages/shamans/warlocks and personal mana functionality. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/mage/talents.html The purpose of this build is not meant for 5, or even 10 man raid instances. Rather, it is used to augment elemental damage done in 25 or 40 man raid groups. Effective fire damage can be increased by 15%, while frost damage crits 10% more often. This is regardless of class. It takes the pressure off of other mages, by stacking scorch and winter's chill while they focus on larger dps skills such as initial pyroblast burns. The other benefit of such a build is that a mage does not have to have high +damage to still be useful. With the stacks they throw out in a raid, the raid overall damage output will climb. The increased mana refund will ensure that your supportive spell casting does not rely on heavy mana usage, relieving the pressure on your mana pool. Further, with increased crit chances, you can still do decent stackable damage for longer raid encounters. Furthermore, this build still allows for relative ease in solo grinding, and also can be marginally effective in instances (though it is best to pick a tree and stick with it for instances). Your most effective damage. Frostbolt, Scorch, Frostbolt, Scorch, Frostbolt, Scorch, Frostbolt, Scorch, Frostbolt, Scorch (This will set up the most effective dps table for raid. It will also ensure that ice/fire skills can do more effective dps faster) Afterwards, you will get the most effective personal dps from cycling. Fireball, Fireball, Scorch, Fireball, Fireball, Frostbolt, Fireball, Fireball, Scorch (repeating) You can throw in Icelance whenever Frostbite procs to increase your DPM. You can throw in Fireblast after every second fireball to increase your DPS. Results = Trinkets = Shiffar's Nexus Horn Shiffar's_Nexus-Horn Forum Link to Discussion Model written out by Murphrid. Assumptions * Common assumption is that Shiffar's procs 20% of the time on a crit. * Tooltip has been observed to be incorrect, it lasts 15 seconds instead of 10. * Assume a hidden cooldown of 45 seconds. (From the WoWhead page) Results * For a casting time of t and a crit chance of c, it will, on average, take t/(.2*c) seconds to proc the trinket (for 1.5 second Scorches and a crit rate of 30%, that's 25 seconds). * From the hidden CD, 70 second cycles. * You get 225 spell damage 15/70 of the time, or 21% of the time, equivalent to 225*15/70 = 48.2 +damage all the time. * This analysis neglects the 30 crit rating. = See Also = External links *Triple-point graph for Fire mages *Blizzard's Mage forums *Lhivera's Water Elemental FAQ *Lhivera's Theorycraft Numbers for 2.1 *Spell Haste Theorycraft *Gear Theorycraft *Mechanics from Lhivera *Lhivera's simulator *Trinkets by Lhivera Category:Mages